


Boomerang

by Scribe



Category: due South
Genre: Angst, Community: ds_snippets | dsc6dsnippets, M/M
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2013-05-08
Updated: 2015-02-12
Packaged: 2017-12-10 19:53:44
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 3
Words: 900
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/789534
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Scribe/pseuds/Scribe
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Fraser calls it ironic, Vecchio says it figures, and Ray thinks it's stupid.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Chapter 1

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> for the prompt "center"

Fraser calls it ironic, Vecchio says it figures, and Ray thinks it's stupid, but they can't find a place to live. Fraser isn't leaving Canada, will suffocate if he has to go back to a city, and Vecchio's stuck in Chicago. He says he can't desert his family again but Ray suspects he's holding tight to knowing who he is after Vegas and wants- needs- to be somewhere familiar.

There's nothing to do but rack up phone bills and spend all their vacation time on each other. Ray, who doesn't care where he is, does six months here, six months there. Canada loves Fraser for Muldoon and America loves Vecchio for Langoustini but no one loves Ray, so he's lucky to get shit jobs in Chicago, filling in and working nightshifts, and in Canada he follows Fraser around unofficially. The whole thing is mostly held together with Vecchio's retirement money. They have one screaming fight about that where a lot of stupid shit comes out and Vecchio, terrifyingly, almost ends up crying, and after that it's okay and they don't talk about it.

So this time he arrives in Canada and he and Fraser are all over each other the first day, like usual, but the second day Fraser wakes up looking tired and says, _how's Ray?_ , and he thinks, miserable, obviously, he just sent me to you and now he has to be the only one on his end of the phone line.

The thing is, Ray's used to being a satellite, to his life revolving around someone else. He's not cut out for tying the three of them together. It's no one's fault, and he can't see a way to fix it, but none of them are happy, and sooner or later this center isn't going to hold.


	2. Axes

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> An agreement or alliance between two or more bodies. The central part of a structure to which other parts are connected. A tool used for chopping wood.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> for the prompt "model"

Ray's already been in Chicago for four days by the time he reaches deep enough into his mess of a suitcase to find the carving. Fraser works on them all the time these days, little perfect statues and scenes that he sends to Vecchio via the Kowalski express: Dief howling, the Riv, Ray's turtle that's really Vecchio's turtle now because Ray can't exactly bring him north every six months. They're all over the Chicago apartment. This one is of the cabin, rough-hewn, with a minutely detailed tree stump out front. It comes with three axes, tiny individual pieces that fit carefully into slots in the stump.

Vecchio hands it back to him, slams his fist on the table, and dials Canada.

"You know I can't," he says.

"Ray, no," says Fraser. They have all their conversations on speakerphone. "It wasn't meant to be a reprimand, it was just a thought. A wish."

That night Vecchio fucks him with the phone on the bedside table. It's usually better when Ray's up north; Vecchio is happy to talk his way through sex, but for Fraser they've had to learn to keep themselves quiet, to listen for the catch of his breath, his little groans and sighs. Tonight, though, Vecchio keeps demanding _Benny_ , and every time Fraser comes back to him with words, even though they're awkward and uncomfortable, sometimes just _yes_ and _here_ like Vecchio's calling on him in class.

After they hang up Vecchio tugs him in and holds him too tight, the way he always does when he's been alone too long. Ray laces their fingers together and closes his eyes to shut out the pristine pillow, the empty side of the bed.

"This isn't working," Vecchio says to the back of his neck.

"Yeah," says Ray. "Yeah, I know."


	3. Between

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> YEV-YVQ-YZF-YEG-ORD

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> for the prompt "between"

**YEV-YVQ-YZF-YEG-ORD**

When Ray leaves, Fraser pretends that nothing's wrong. They count down days and go about their routine and Fraser asks brightly after his packing and it breaks Ray's heart, every time.

When Vecchio picks him up, they bicker. It's tense and awful and nothing like their usual play; he's never figured out why it happens. Sometimes they can't even snap out of it once they're home. Vecchio sounds cruel and looks desperate, like he doesn't want to be saying these things, and there's always a minute of panic until one of them remembers how to reach instead of push. 

 

**ORD-YEG-YZF-YVQ-YEV**

Vecchio likes to make plans for before Ray leaves, big final celebrations like weekend trips, or sex marathons. Vecchio says _god, I'll miss you_ , and that's heartbreaking too.

When Fraser picks him up he touches Ray nonstop, right there at the airstrip: stands too close, hand on his arm, shoulder, back. Ray suspects he goes half the year with barely any more physical human contact than a handshake. Fraser never says and Ray never asks, just hangs on to him right back.

 

Ray can manage leading two lives, but the transitions mess with his head. Every time he comes home he's also leaving home behind. It's too much to deal with all at once, always makes him feel a little like shaking out of his skin.

Once, blizzard-grounded in Yellowknife, he gets drunk and writes a half-coherent email about how he feels guilty for getting to see them both, just because he's the one without anything else important in his life.

_But that's the arrangement_ , Fraser writes back. _I needed to be here, Ray needed to be there, and you needed to not be alone._

Vecchio says: _Don't be an idiot._

They call his flight, eventually. 

Ray goes home.


End file.
